The son of soil: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal
Akshit Singh
Wishes started to pour in from all quarters as Chief Minister Of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal turned 59 on October 31st, 2020.
Sarbananda Sonowal, who became the first non-Congress Chief Minister in the state of Assam, is a popular leader, along with strengthening the BJP to power in the northeastern state of Assam. Assam Chief Minister Sonowal was born in Dibrugarh, Assam in 1962. Sarbananda, popularly known as the ethnic hero of Assam, started his political career after studying at Dibrugarh University. Sarbananda was the president of All Assam Student Union during 1992–1999 and after that he won the election of MLA for the first time in 2001 on the ticket of Assam Gana Parishad.
Three years after that, in 2004, he defeated the Congress leader and former Union Minister Paban Singh Ghatovar in the Lok Sabha elections. In 2011, he left the party and joined the BJP due to internal strife in the AGP. In 2012, Sonowal was made the president of the Assam BJP. After winning the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, he was given the responsibility of Sports Ministry. He contested the 2016 Assam Assembly elections as a Union Minister.
In these elections, out of the total 126 seats in the state, the BJP alliance won 86 seats. Subsequently, Sonowal was elected as the leader of the Legislative Party and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Assam on 24 May 2016.
Today we will tell you about some interesting things related to Assam's CM Sarbananda Sonowal.
- Sarbananda Sonowal, who won the title of Mr. Dibrugarh Strong Man during college days, was fond of fishing and whenever he got time in childhood, he used to go fishing in the local Dibru river.
- Apart from this, he is fond of driving high speed cars and bikes. His entire room is filled with pictures and posters of such cars and bikes.
- Sarbananda was elected cleaning minister in the school in the third and fourth classes. He has loved playing football since childhood, but due to his lack of money to buy football, he used to play with the local fruit 'Tanga'.
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PROFILE At a Glance Born: October 31, 1962 Education: LL.B., B.C.J. from Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University Political career: 1992-1999: AASU president 2001: Joins AGP 2001: MLA from Moran 2004: MP from Dibrugarh 2011: Joins BJP 2012-2014: Appointed BJP Assam unit chief 2014: MP from Lakhimpur, Union Minister in Narendra Modi government. 2016-present: Chief Minister Assam |
On that day, four years back, an electoral history was scripted in the state when a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government was sworn-in for the first time ever in Northeast riding on an unprecedented Modi wave, opening floodgates for a new form of governance that has seen its ripple effect in almost all the states of India’s Northeast.
The milestone meant completion of four years of the BJP-led coalition government, under Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, a person who is quite unlike most of his political counterparts, in action and demeanour.
To protect the Jati, Mati, Bheti (Identity or nation, Land, Ancestral base) was the campaign slogan of the BJP during the state assembly elections of 2016. Assam, fighting the influx of migrants from Bangladesh for a long time, had reached a tipping point by that time. Not only was her land taken away but also native speakers of the Assamese language were seen to be diminishing. The fear of losing its identity had gripped the common psyche of the people of the state. Corrupt practices by those in previous governments had also compounded this problem, leading to a flagging economy and disillusionment among the youth and general population. The people were yearning for a change. Sarbananda Sonowal was the person, who the people of the state voted into power with huge expectations and trust. A former student leader and union minister, Sonowal has long been adoredby the Assamese people and was given the title of a Jatiyo Nayak (Hero of the nation) for ensuring repeal of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal ) (IMDT) Act in the Supreme Court.
His ethnic Assamese identity, combined with his organisational skills from the student’s union days and a clean slate on corruption, ensured that he become the most sought after leader for the people of Assam. When he took on the reins of power, his task was assiduous, to form a team of high performing individuals yet keep no frills of power at all. That he has been successful to do so, without coming into the media glare, is what makes this person and the government led by him a unique study. As a leader and politician, Sonowal has been always successful and popular, which his counterparts or even close one would envy. People of Assam bestowed trust upon him for decades, for which he was projected as the Chief Minister candidate during the Assembly Election campaign of 2016. This had an enormous impact on the masses of Assam and worked in favour of BJP in winning the hearts of the people. His colourful political career spans for almost two decades from 2001 to 2020. In this two decades in politics, he has always maintained his dignity and politeness, a rare quality to be found in his contemporary politicians.
